Subscribe to this blog

Follow by Email

Search This Blog

Strawberries and Cream Redux

Over the years, I have created several desserts that play on the combination of strawberries and cream. Because these berries show up in India towards the end of the winter rather than summer, these desserts also have a tendency to crop up on the blog around Valentine's Day. Totally appropriate you will say, and this year, with the addition of some other of my favourite ingredients, the best version as well.

The base of the dessert is basil white chocolate cream. Pour 200 ml of heavy cream in a small saucepan. Now that Amul is finally selling whipping cream in India, that's the one I have used. Heat gently until the cream is warm, then add 4-5 basil leaves. Cover and leave to infuse for half an hour. Remove the basil leaves and put the cream back on heat. Add 200 grams of chopped white chocolate - use the best you can find - and stir until the cream and chocolate combine into a smooth ganache. Remove from the heat and pour into small bowls or ramekins. Let cool a little, then cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Topping the cream are balsamic roasted strawberries that you can make at the same time and serve chilled. Or make them just before you eat this dessert so you have the warm berries contrasting the cold basil cream. Either way, wash and hull 400 grams of strawberries. Quarter the large berries and cut any smaller berries into half. In a bowl, mix berries with 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Leave the bowl aside for 10-15 minutes, then spread the berries on a baking tray in a single layer. Also add any juice left in the bowl and cook in an oven heated to 200C for 30-35 minutes until the berries are soft. Serve immediately over chilled cream or let both the cream and berries chill separately and assemble just before eating.

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Labels

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I have a friend who is quite the globetrotter. Lunches at her place, often right after her trips, are a treasure trove of global flavours. But the last time we met, she was just back from Tamil Nadu and out she brought a bowl of curd rice. I love curd rice and have eaten a lot of it over the years but my friend's version was so full of flavours and textures, it was a revelation. Obviously, I asked for the recipe.

The genius of this curd rice lies in adding the tempering or the tadka twice, once to mix in the rice so it absorbs all the flavours. Then you make a second batch to top the rice with just before you serve, so it adds crunch to the usually mushy dish. The recipe also has a few other elements added in for texture, freshness and flavour.

I over-ate at lunch at my friend's and I over-ate again when I made this for myself for lunch. Plus, all the ingredients you need are likely in your kitchen already so you may as well go make it now.

I know there hasn't been a new recipe on these pages for a while. But worry not, I'm back with a real zinger. Earthy, creamy, crunchy - this is an appetizer that ticks all the right boxes. And if you happen to be a mushroom lover like me, this is the best way to eat mushrooms I've found so far. I present to you, for all your year end parties and appetizer cravings - creamy mushroom pate on toast.

Its mushroom pate two way - just on its own and panko-crumbed and fried. Both go on a crisp garlic baguette with watercress and some kewpie mayonnaise. Here's the recipe.

I met Wesley at noon on a sunny day in May at the entrance to Tyrna village. The meeting had been three months in the making. Back in February, I had seen the pictures a friend posted from a trekking trip to Meghalaya. I'd been so taken in by the double decker living roots bridge that I immediately called Chalohoppo, the travel company she had gone with, and booked a trip for myself.

I'm not a trekker which means that instead of the rugged trip my friend had taken, I had arrived at a compromise. We will start the trip with the trek and then spend the rest of our stay in Meghalaya at a nice lakeside resort just outside Shillong. Which means that the day before I met Wesley, I'd landed in Guwahati and been met at the airport by a friendly Chalohoppo driver for a four hour drive to Cherrapunjee.

On arriving at the Sai Mika resort, nestled in the middle of mountains, I called the number I'd been given and was greeted by a friendly, enthusiastic voice of our guide for the tre…